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Author Topic: My first C5!  (Read 11237 times)

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Offline Retro Andy

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Re: My first C5!
« Reply #15 on: 31, March, 2011 - 09:29:47 »
That looks really good, coming along great, as Karl said you should be very proud, and trust me when its finished and you get to use it, the bond will be better  :)

Retro Andy.

ScubaChris

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Re: My first C5!
« Reply #16 on: 31, March, 2011 - 10:48:57 »
That looks really good, coming along great, as Karl said you should be very proud, and trust me when its finished and you get to use it, the bond will be better  :)

Retro Andy.

Yeah, that's my logic too. I'm at the stage now where I know every little nut, bolt and fastener in the C5. Think I might be pretty attached to this one when it's finished!  ;D

C.

Offline Retro Andy

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Re: My first C5!
« Reply #17 on: 31, March, 2011 - 12:37:11 »
There is a name for us ! (well more than one name) But we enjoy are C5's  ;)

Retro Andy.

ScubaChris

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Re: My first C5!
« Reply #18 on: 31, March, 2011 - 17:10:58 »
Well I did a bit more work on it today as there won't be much more progress until next week due to work commitments (stupid work!).

Today I fitted the axle, motor mount, A frame, wheels and front brake callipers. It's starting to take shape.  :)


ScubaChris

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Re: My first C5!
« Reply #19 on: 05, April, 2011 - 22:43:09 »
Got through a few housey chores this morning to keep 'her indoors' happy and then sneaked off to the garage for a couple of hours to tackle the motor. I knew it looked a bit grotty inside by looking through the vent holes but it was worse than I expected!

First I stripped down the gearbox and gave everything a good scrub in isopropyl alcohol (isopropanol). It's fantastic at degreasing parts and evaporates quickly to leave no residue. The large main bearing in this picture will be replaced with a new one.



Then I removed the motor back plate. The metal bracket that holds the positive wire in place had snapped off and allowed the motor brush on that side to drop too far into the housing. To repair it I drilled through the metal bracket and used a piece of 2.5mm copper wire to strap it back together.



The armature was removed and I was really surprised to see it completely choked with cobwebs and dead spiders! The commutator and bearings were all in good condition but the cobwebs had to go.  ;)



Here I used one of the cogs from the planetary gearbox to hold the carbon brushes in place. This enabled me to repair the positive cable bracket on the outside of the housing.



Finally I used a good dollop of Sugru to make a nice sturdy cable gland. This will set as silicone rubber and stop the cable from bending too much and potentially snapping again.


« Last Edit: 05, April, 2011 - 22:47:07 by ScubaChris »

Offline Lancealot

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Re: My first C5!
« Reply #20 on: 06, April, 2011 - 01:25:49 »
Hi that is looking really good, I am at a similar stage with my 2nd C5. Trying to get all the replacement bits - thanks Chas.

I am about to look at the body and have been to Tesco's to get the green scubbing pads, etc and still got CIF from my 1st C5 so looks like a fun weekend for us both. I am also going to try some 11% Chlorine solution (water treatment companies use it to flush new pipework installs) on a small bit to see what its like!!!!

Keep going and you will be able to have a C5 smile on your face very soon.

thanks

Lance

ScubaChris

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Re: My first C5!
« Reply #21 on: 07, April, 2011 - 19:15:15 »
Hi that is looking really good, I am at a similar stage with my 2nd C5. Trying to get all the replacement bits - thanks Chas.

I am about to look at the body and have been to Tesco's to get the green scubbing pads, etc and still got CIF from my 1st C5 so looks like a fun weekend for us both. I am also going to try some 11% Chlorine solution (water treatment companies use it to flush new pipework installs) on a small bit to see what its like!!!!

Keep going and you will be able to have a C5 smile on your face very soon.

thanks

Lance

Yeah well I've scrubbed it and scrubbed it some more until I got sick of scrubbing. It's not perfect but it'll do. After all this C5 will be to use rather than display so I'm sure it will get grubby again before too long.  ;)

Today I fitted the new stickers onto the body, plumbed in the wiring loom and then bolted the body back onto the chassis.




Sorting out the wiring... Also managed to clean most of that silver spray paint off the control box.



Wiring tidied up - viewed with the C5 upside down.



I had a few bugs to deal with in the pod, and I don't mean of the software variety  ;).



I tried one of my new LED headlight bulbs as a replacement for the original one. The next 2 pictures show the difference between bulbs. Original (top) and LED (bottom).




I didn't really think the LED one could compete on brightness so I decided to stick with the original until I can find a brighter LED replacement. Refitted the headlight lens.



Bought 2 single speed BMX type bike chains from my local bike shop and spliced them together. Fitted the chain onto the sprockets and then tackled the chain tensioner. I'd love to see a picture of how the original tensioner pivots were supposed to fit because there just seems to be no secure way to do it! What I have is a small grey plastic tube (the pivot) and a couple of metal clips which clip over it. What I ended up doing is bonding the tube into place with my new favourite substance - Sugru  ;D. The more I use this stuff, the more confidence it gives me. I must get some other colours though...

This picture shows the pivot bonded into place and the tensioner folded out of the way to allow the sugru to set overnight.



Offline Retro Andy

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Re: My first C5!
« Reply #22 on: 08, April, 2011 - 06:33:05 »
Looking good, nearly complete  ;)

Retro Andy.

Offline C5 ENTHUSIAST + RESTORER

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Re: My first C5!
« Reply #23 on: 08, April, 2011 - 07:05:44 »
Hi check out this post you will see the chain tensioner on page 2 stripped down ,bye Chas

http://c5alive.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=1605.0

« Last Edit: 08, April, 2011 - 07:08:10 by C5 ENTHUSIAST + RESTORER »

ScubaChris

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Re: My first C5!
« Reply #24 on: 08, April, 2011 - 13:11:14 »
Hi check out this post you will see the chain tensioner on page 2 stripped down ,bye Chas

http://c5alive.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=1605.0



Thanks Chas, that's really helpful  :). Now I can see why I've been having difficulty - the parts I have are completely different to that!. Either mine was botched by a previous owner or maybe they changed the design at some point during production?

Either way mine seems to be working ok now. Today I fitted the quick release battery clamps, fitted a new battery strap,  boot and brake cables. All that's left to do is to reinstall the handlebars which I can't do until next week as I'm waiting for a new steering stem which I ordered from the local bike shop.





New boot & inner courtesy of Karl - apparently a spare from the 'Rotterdam batch' of C5's  ;D.
This picture also shows the filled holes on the side of the seat back. Unfortunately it's not a great colour match but hey, it's better than having dirty great holes everywhere...


 
Final check of the electrics - all seems to be working fine apart from a slightly dodgy connector at the back of the pod.





I did give it a little test run up and down the garden which was a bit scary without steering or brakes  :o. Initially when I hit the power button all I got was a loud noise from the drive belt... Obviously slipping. I removed the motor and put about 6 layers of gas closure tape on the bottom part of the bracket to raise the motor slightly which seemed to do the trick. One potential problem is that the drive cog on the end of the motor is a little worn. Nothing too tragic but it might possibly need replacing in the future. No idea how hard these are to source though.

« Last Edit: 08, April, 2011 - 13:16:05 by ScubaChris »

Offline Pyrasanth

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Re: My first C5!
« Reply #25 on: 08, April, 2011 - 16:14:18 »
Hi,

To stop that belt slip see the tread
http://c5alive.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=1181.0

If that don't work search cable tie that will sort it out I had the same problem

Cheers

Gary

Offline radiomarty

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Re: My first C5!
« Reply #26 on: 08, April, 2011 - 16:38:39 »
Really good stuff - keep up the fantastic work - great to see another one coming back to life ! :)

ScubaChris

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Re: My first C5!
« Reply #27 on: 13, April, 2011 - 19:46:21 »
Wohooo...  ;D
Apart from a little tidying here and there, she's all finished and back on the road!  :D

My new steering stem finally arrived from Raleigh to replace the one I had to saw in half. It's a bit bulkier than the original one and therefore the foam cover sits slightly higher than it would normaly.

Here's a comparison between the original stem and the new one.



This enabled me to connect up my new brake cables and get everything adjusted right. I think I need to allow the rear brake to bed in a little (it hasn't been used for years) before I can get it adjusted properly - it's still a little sloppy.

This is what she looks like now.  :)



The only thing left to do is tidy the wiring to the 'throttle' switch and optimise the routing of the brake cables.
I just took it out for it's maiden voyage around the local roads and it ran brilliantly. Even my 10 year old daughter jumped on my knees and came for a blast with me.  ;D

Now... having never driven a C5 before today I wondered if anyone can answer a couple of questions:

1) The turning angle of the handlebars is quite small - the tip of the grips hits the very edge of the seat and this results in a reasonable-but-not-great turning circle. Now I can adjust the bar height so it can overlap the seat and therefore turn more, but I wanted to know is this is how a 'standard' set up is supposed to be?

2) General driving around causes the rubber grommets at the top of the seat back to loosen. Is this a common problem and does anyone have any suggestions to stop this happening? 'Glue them down' is probably an obvious one but is this the best solution? I don't want to loose 'em!

Thanks,
C.



Jonny

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Re: My first C5!
« Reply #28 on: 13, April, 2011 - 20:32:32 »
looking great!  ;D

in answer to your questions:

1. this is normal, the c5 doesn't have an amazing turning circle, if you need to make a sharp turn lift the front nose and spin the c5 around  :) in the c5 hot tips letter it says that the steering is limited to prevent any other part of the steering system fouling.

2.i don't have any so i don't have this problem.

my breaks at first weren't very good and made a terrible noise when the c5 came to a stop, after a couple of miles they work perfectly now  :)

Karl

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Re: My first C5!
« Reply #29 on: 13, April, 2011 - 22:20:30 »
Jonny is pretty much spot on  ;)

1 ) ask Max  :P ( ...I'm sure he'll be along to explain later  ;D)
The handlebar grips should hit the leading edge of the seat, this helps to keep the turning circle wide enough to stop you tiping over - an occupational hazard with most three wheelers of this configuration. The "tadpole" arrangement as per the 3 wheeled Morgans would be more stable   :)

2) The raised blocks by the mast holes do always tend to fall off, you've done well to find one with them still in situ   8)